Fair Trade USA and Partners Urge Americans to Be Fair

Oakland, Ca. (October 1, 2013) – It’s Fair Trade Month and the results are in. Philadelphia reigns as the Fairest City in America, according to the 2013 Be Fair Survey, with Boston and Dallas-Fort Worth following closely behind. To kick off Fair Trade Month, Fair Trade USA, the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in North America, celebrates America’s fairest cities and reminds consumers to Be Fair by choosing Fair Trade when they shop.

OAKVILLE, CAN., September 25, 2013 /3BL Media/ — Oliberté, maker of sustainably produced leather shoes and bags handmade in Africa, is the first footwear manufacturing facility in the world to be Fair Trade Certified™ by Fair Trade USA. Oliberté opened its factory in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2012 to produce high-quality products in a work environment that values workers’ rights and fair wages. Passing Fair Trade USA’s audit process means that Oliberté is now shipping the world’s first Fair Trade Certified shoes to its retailers worldwide.

Believing that fair trade should be available beyond cooperatives, Fair Trade USA has created a pilot program for independent small-farmers and large estates. The objective of the two-year pilot is to evaluate whether current fair trade principles can be effective in non-cooperative farms. By Ann-Marie Hardie